


Thoughts on Christmas

by HuntingHardyGirl



Category: Hardy Boys - Fandom, Nancy Drew - Fandom
Genre: Bittersweet, Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Unrequited Love, francy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 08:31:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13142880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HuntingHardyGirl/pseuds/HuntingHardyGirl





	Thoughts on Christmas

If there was one thing that Frank Hardy knew of himself it was that he prided himself on his morals. After so many years as an amateur detective, he’d learned a lot about himself and the people around him. Even though he and his brother Joe chased after criminals as harmless as a drunk robber to someone as dangerous as a drug cartel, he knew there were still good people in the world. He never willingly hurt anyone, unless it was in self defense and even then he always regretted it. He fought to do the right thing, even if the right thing almost got him shot or blown up.

Which is why the teenager was feeling a bit miffed. Most emotions were alright, tolerable, but this was something else all together and he wasn’t sure if he liked it.

Currently, he and Joe were staying in River Heights, due to their fellow detective and best friend Nancy Drew had asked for their help on a mystery around town. It had been dangerous and daring, but thankfully the gang they were tracking down had all be rounded up. Due to a snowstorm nearby closing the airports, the Hardy brothers wouldn’t be able to make it home in time for Christmas, so Nancy and her father had invited the boys to stay with them until the weather cleared up.

Though the boys had accepted gratefully and happily, Frank still felt like he was venturing into dangerous territory. It was always like a landmine in his mind when he was near Nancy. She was certainly different than most other girls he had met. Her mind was a lot like his, so similiar, in fact, that more times than not when working together they usually came to the same conclusion on their cases at the exact same time.

Frank admired Nancy’s abilities as a detective. She was like a bulldog with a bone, never letting go, never allowing herself to be scared away. Her eyes always got so faraway when she was thinking of something, or they were flashing with a bright fire with a crazy idea. She knew how to sweet talk her way into getting information that she was looking for, and she was more sneaky than an alleycat when it came to undercover work. Very rarely had she had ever been caught in the act of snooping.

Of course, there were other things that Frank admired about her. He liked how her strawberry blond hair would fall into her face while she was looking at files, the way she’d have her attention locked onto the computer while she typed, trying to find a clue or just something to make her smile. And Nancy had a lovely smile, straight white teeth and warmth radiating from it, making her face a little pink, especially in the cold weather. Her laugh was contagious, always making even the grumpiest people smile. He thought it was cute how she’d get so distracted on a case that sometimes her clothes were either inside out or backwards, or if her car randomly ran out of gas. Just on the recent case, he’d caught her before she could run out of her house wearing a pair of bunny slippers.

Nancy was one of those rare people who were so warm and sincerely kind that they were well and truly beautiful, inside and out. And ever moment Frank spent with her seemed to make all of his emotions jumbled and confused, until eventually one of them stood out more clearly than the rest.

_I love you._

Three simple words. How can they hold so much power?

Frank could kick himself for that. His feelings for Nancy were getting so strong that even Joe was beginning to notice. The older Hardy was doing everything he could to keep them under wraps. He knew that Nancy didn’t feel the same way. She saw him as a dear friend, maybe even a brother figure. Surely she never thought of him in a romantic way. Girls were usually more obvious than they needed to be if they found Frank attractive and Nancy didn’t send out those types of signals.

And there was also the matter that Nancy already had a boyfriend.

Frank liked Ned Nickerson. The college freshman was good to Nancy, always so supportive of her career as a detective, used to her crazy schedule when a mystery randomly popped up. He was always there to help bail her out of trouble or to help with some crazy idea she came up with. Along with his access as a reporter for his father’s newspaper The River Heights Bugle, he had more access to information than Nancy or George Fayne might get on their own. Ned was a good guy, a great guy, in fact. He loved and cared for Nancy, who loved and cared for him in return.

And despite Frank’s longing to be in Ned’s shoes, of always having Nancy’s back either on a case or picking up some ice cream for her after a stressful day, he knew better. He respected people’s boundaries and relationships, so he kept his rather annoying feelings to himself.

_I love you._

Frank unconsciously slid his hand into his jacket pocket. He figured if he was going to stay in River Heights a few extra days then he might as well go to the rather large mall in the middle of town to see if he could pick up some last minute presents for his friends and family, but almost everything he looked at didn’t seem right. He decided that he had already gotten enough when he had found it. The perfect little gift he could give to Nancy. He was sure she would love it. At least, he hoped so, as he wrapped his fingers around the small box in his pocket.

“Frank!” a voice called out.

He turned in surprise to see Nancy coming in his direction and smiled. “Hey,” he said.

“Hey yourself,” she replied, her sky blue eyes sparkling while her cheeks looked flushed from the cold weather. “Last minute shopping?”

“You know me so well,” he teased.

“Well of course! We’ve been best friends for years, it’s to be expected. Are you finding anything interesting?” she asked as they continued along down the pathway.

“Nothing too interesting,” Frank said as they both peeked into the window of the antique shop. “I feel like my parents already have everything they need. Aunt Trudy’s kitchen shelf might break if I get her another cook book and Joe doesn’t need a new video game, no matter what he says otherwise.”

Nancy laughed before she looped her arm through Frank’s, keeping them together as the crowd seemed to get a bit bigger around them. “Well you never know,” she said with a smirk. “Joe keeps insisting they help with his hand-eye coordination.”

“He won’t have any hand-eye coordination left if he goes blind from staring at the screen all day,” he remarked dryly. “Maybe a couple of music download giftcards will be enough.”

“He could get you something so much worse,” Nancy said.

“I highly doubt that.”

The two window shopped together for a while, chatting aimlessly about trivial things. Frank always felt a bit jittery when he was so close to Nancy, even having some kind of physical contact with her made him feel light headed. She wasn’t one to wear perfume often but he definitely smelled something from her that made him think of tangerines. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her, to at least know what that felt like, but mentally slapped himself. He didn’t want to risk losing her as a friend. He couldn’t.

Eventually they made their way to the outdoor parking lot to look for Nancy’s car. A sharp cold wind blew through, making their eyes water as they squinted a little against the harshness of the breeze. Thankfully they weren’t too far from Nancy’s powder blue hybrid.

“You know,” Nancy said suddenly, “I’m really glad we met each other all those years ago.”

“You mean when you judo flipped me over your shoulder because Joe and I startled you?” Frank asked with a sly grin.’

Nancy blushed and gave him a little shove. “Just like you to bring that up! Are you never going to let me live that down?”

“Hey, you were the one who surprised me! Who knew such a small skinny body could flip all of this?” He gestured to himself jokingly.

She rolled her eyes. “And here I was gonna say how much I love being friends with you,” she said.

“Oh really? I’m not boring you yet?”

“Not in the slighest.” She stood on her tip toes so she could kiss him on the cheek. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.” She gave him a smile before taking out her keys and unlocking the car. “Come on. Hannah was planning on making some gingerbread and if we don’t get there soon then your brother might inhale it in one go before we get any!”

Frank’s whole face felt pleasantly warm from the affectionate kiss and he found himself smiling with slight giddyness. “Sure thing.” He climbed into the passenger seat of the hybrid while Nancy climbed into the driver’s seat to start the car. When they made it back to the Drew residence about ten minutes later, Frank found himself watching Nancy as she walked up the driveway to the front door.

She was a rare gem alright. Beautiful inside and out, highly intelligent, great sense of humor, full of kindness and generosity, with a few adorable quirks thrown in at random.

 _I love you_ , Frank thought to himself. _And you don’t even know it._

Nevertheless he followed her into the house, where he did find his younger brother waiting to pounce on the gingerbread Hannah Gruen was pulling out of the oven. The little family and their guests had some fun eating and chatting about their past cases, mulling over more happy memories. The next morning, on Christmas, Nancy gave the Hardy’s her own presents; for Joe, a book on cheat codes to his favorite computer game and a red scarf for Frank. The boys, in turn, gave her a couple of books and CDs that she enjoyed, before they went to board a plane back home to Bayport.

When Nancy went to clean the guest rooms after the boys were gone, she found they had cleaned up after themselves like the perfect guests they were, as well as a small brightly wrapped box sitting on the nightstand. Picking it up, she found her name scrawled on the tag in Frank’s handwriting. Curious, the teen opened the box the find a silver necklace with a small magnifying glass charm in the middle.

Smiling gently, she put the necklace on to find it was the perfect fit.

Not all love stories end with everyone getting what they want. Frank Hardy loved Nancy Drew, and it’s likely he may love her for many years to come. But it didn’t matter to him if she didn’t return his feelings. Just seeing her smile, knowing with certainty that she was happy, that was good enough for him.


End file.
